Court case fuels nuclear row

In your excellent leader (Pretending to Listen, February 16) you refer to the bungled case for the invasion of Iraq as a warning to a government that consistently embarks on ill-thought-through policies. This government has set up a specialist body, the Sustainable Development Commission, to advise it on energy/environmental topics. The commission consists of eminent independent commissioners representing a wide range of interests. Their forensic report published in March 2006, The Role of Nuclear Power in a Low-Carbon Economy, concluded that nuclear power is a choice but not an absolute necessity and described how the UK could meet its CO2-reduction targets and energy needs through other means. It also warned: "There are many siren voices urging ministers to pursue a fast-track approach to this decision, dispensing with proper consultation, and short-circuiting a proper parliamentary process. This would be extremely foolish." What is the point of the government setting up such specialist bodies and contemptuously disregarding their advice?
Professsor Leon FrerisLoughborough University

Greenpeace pretends our future energy choice lies between nuclear or renewables. It doesn't. No matter how many sparsely populated islands we industrialise, we aren't going to get more than 20% of our power from renewable energy. For the other 80-90%, the choice is simple: nuclear or fossil fuels. Nuclear power has many drawbacks, as do all forms of energy (including renewables - just ask the residents of Orkney, or the numerous communities which have turned down wind farms on the basis that they are a blot on the landscape with the full support of the local, oh, er, Greenpeace). But if Greenpeace wants to be taken seriously, it should now be prepared to say what we all already know: they are so ideologically bent against nuclear power that they would rather have fossil fuels heating our houses (and our planet). One thing is certain: today Greenpeace is the toast of the fossil-fuel industry. And if it manages to kill off nuclear power, it will have done more to accelerate global warming than any car manufacturer or oil producer. That will, at least, keep Greenpeace in business. Martin RussellExeter, Devon

No doubt the government did not, as it promised, "consult widely" on the issue of building new nuclear power stations. But Greenpeace appears to share with the government a dangerously simplistic attitude to nuclear power. There are many new nuclear technologies, such as pebble-bed reactors, far cheaper to build and run, and the prospect of thorium-fuelled reactors, the worst waste from which promises a half-life of only a few hundred rather than many thousands of years. There cannot be a "yes" or "no" answer to the question of whether we should continue making use of fission for power without careful consideration of all such innovations. This should be a next step for both the government and Greenpeace.William McNeilOxford.

Tony Blair's justification for nuclear power was laughable. We are running out of oil and gas. So are we planning to have nuclear-powered cars? While imposing sanctions on Iran for developing nuclear power, how can we not appear hypocritical in developing more nuclear power? Germany has started a 20-year programme to retrofit all housing to a zero-carbon standard, mostly by energy-efficiency measures. In the UK we waste about 50% of our energy. Blair should target this first, before he leaves us a pile of radioactive waste that will take millennia to make safe. Or do we need more nuclear power stations for new Trident missiles?Professor Lewis LesleyLiverpool

Clearly the nuclear consultation was a farce. The questions were vague and very little indication was given of costs or waste management. The new consultation must cover not only these points but also: rising sea levels inundating the sites; uranium supply; energy in, energy out; and terrorism. Since this is a moral issue that will affect countless future generations, only a referendum will do before a decision on new build is made.Neil HollowEdinburgh